Stairway collapse puts spotlight back on dilapidated Torrington Park apartments

Occupants of a structurally defective four-storey apartment in Torrington Park in St Andrew are on edge and calling for urgent intervention from the Government after one of the building’s staircases collapsed yesterday, injuring a woman.

Althea McIntosh, 59, who was on the second floor sitting on the staircase of the state-owned building when it collapsed, crashing into another staircase, was rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital, where she was treated and released.

“The building has been tired. The building has been cracking, cracking, but you see fi har side, it keep rocking, rocking,” the victim’s sister, Rosalee, told The Gleaner.

Rosalee said she was inside her unit washing when her daughter alerted her to the commotion and thought it was an earthquake, but after checking, saw that the staircase had fallen.

“Dem keep meeting. Dem tek pictures but no response,” she said, noting that the residents have been complaining for years about the dilapidated state of the building and the risk that it poses to the lives of the occupants.

“A long time dis a gwaan. We need it fi deal wid, and wi nuh know wa a happen to the prime minister. Him need to come to fix wat need to fix because him say him a de Government,” said another resident, Mel, who reported that a similar incident occurred about two years ago to a male occupant of the building.

The mother of three said she broke down in tears over what had transpired as it could have been worse, especially given that numerous young children live on the building and are always playing in the yard.

“Pickney coulda a pass and it drop dung pon dem and dem dead. Every minute dem say dem a come fix it, and all now. From last year September, we have a meeting with people from [Ministry of] Housing and we MP, and dem say dem a go start the work in November. Up to since year, dem people come look pon it.

“But dis affi happen before; a life affi tek before dem deal wid de building. ’Member we are human beings and we cannot live like this. Like dem don’t care,” Mel said.

Another occupant, Carl Marsh, said: “About five years or more we have been complaining about the building. It’s in a really bad state. Sometimes you just see pieces of concrete fall and drop down.”

Marsh said he, too, is worried about what is going to happen as the situation could have been worse and is likely to get worse if there is no intervention.

The Gleaner, during a short tour of the building, was shown loose railings with exposed steel in the structure holding up the stairways at different sections of the complex.

The residents also complained that the water system was not functioning properly.

In the meantime, Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament for the area Mark Golding, who was on the scene, said: “This should never have happened. I brought this to their attention four years ago. I have written to them multiple times, sent them multiple pictures and videos, but the issue is that it hasn’t been taken and dealt with, with the urgency that is required.”

“Now that this has happened, hopefully, they will realise how serious the situation is if they never realised it before,” he added.

Golding said he wrote to the Ministry of Economic, Growth and Job Creation and also informed the prime minister about the situation, and following a meeting last September, was promised that the work was about to start. However, he said he was informed last Wednesday that the Procurement Commission said the matter could not go through as an emergency procurement and had to go to tender.

However, in light of what has now occurred, Golding said some engineering solutions would have to be implemented quickly to make the building safe and accessible as the apartment houses 48 units.

In the meantime, he said the prime minister assured him that the housing ministry would be intervening.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com